Call for support for family of slain Afghan journalist, Javed Yazamy

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Fund for the Family of Slain Afghan Journalist Javed "Jojo' Yazamy
We would like to thank all of the donors who have given so far. They include 25 individual donors, and one organization, CTV News, who gave a significant gift. With the combined online and offline gifts, we are now just $1,916 from our goal of $15,000. We believe that with your help in the last three weeks of July, we will reach that goal.
Just a reminder that any funds above that amount will go to The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) for journalism training projects in Afghanistan.
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In March of this year, the Canadian press corps lost a friend and colleague in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Only months after being released from a U.S. prison in Bagram, Javed 'Jojo' Yazamy was murdered in Kandahar city.
Jojo was a fixer, primarily for CTV, but known to every reporter in southern Afghanistan as fearless, determined and passionate about telling the story of this war and its impact on his family and those he considered adopted family, Canadians.
Javed Yazamy His death is a blow for his Afghan colleagues, his Canadian comrades, for journalism in Afghanistan but also for his family. His father, an ill mother, two brothers and four sisters all depended on his income. They are now saddled with the debt of working to secure his release from prison and also left with the many financial obligations Jojo took on as he sought to improve his skills to be ever more an asset to the coverage of the war in Afghanistan.
Jojo considered Canadians as his brothers and sisters. There was nothing he wouldn't do for us, and now we want to honour that. With your support, we hope to raise $15,000 to help ease some of the crushing financial burden faced by his family.
DETAILS ABOUT HOW TO DONATE
Donate Now Through CanadaHelps.org!
To donate, please click on the Canada Helps Giving Link
Any money raised over our target will be given to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting to run training seminars for Afghan journalists in Jojo's memory. While the primary goal of this campaign is to support Jojo's family, we're also keenly aware that his death has left a large hole in Afghan journalism and there's no better way to pay tribute to what he's done than to ensure there are others to follow in his footsteps.
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) will be collecting funds through Canada Helps for the family of Jojo until July 31, 2009. We thank you very much for donating to this fund, and ask you to spread the word to others who knew Jojo or who wish to honour the work of all the fixers who work with Canadian journalists around the world.